My clown is missing!!!

[mhayes462]

Got home today and one of my clowns is missing. I have a biocube 29. It is nowhere to be seen. I have a fish guard so it can not get in back, I checked all chambers anyway. I have the hood on. Not near the powerhead. My other livestock is: black and white clown, bangaii cardinal, engineer goby that has tunnels under one big rock, emerald crab, 3 blue leg crabs, 2 peppermint shrimp, coral banded shrimp, brittle star, and blue linkia star. Could any of these have done anything to it? I can't figure out where it could be if it is dead. Anyone have any clue what could have happened? I really don't want to tear the tank apart to find it. Is it a must to find it and get it out or will the snails and crabs take care of it?
Mike Hayes

 

[bang guy]

You are fairly overstocked. If the Clownfish died the Brittle Star could have cleaned up the corpse along with the Hermits. How long have you had the Linckia? I actually impressed you have one in a 29. That's really amazing. I'm a bit concerned about the Engineer Goby, did the store not tell you how big they get?

 

[mhayes462]

Would it be cleaned up in just 24hrs? The linkia was a mistake. The Lfs told me it would do fine, that they have them all the time with no problem. I trusted the info until I got home and read up on the care. The goby 6-8"
Mike Hayes

 

[bang guy]

Yeah, Something the size of a Clownfish can be cleaned up if just a few hours. I'm thinking your cleanup crew did it's job.
I had a pair of Engineer Gobies in my 900. They got to be around 20" in just a few years before their growth slowed down. After 10 years they were somewhere around 24" but put on quite a bit of girth. I just can't picture one in a 29 gallon.

 

[mhayes462]

My god! Everything I read said an engineer gets about 8".
Mike Hayes

 

[bang guy]

Yeah. I've seen sites that even say a max of 6". I wonder if this is a fish that actually does grow to an accomodating size of its environment. I had not though saltwater fish were known for that but it would explain the listings. I think most places list it at 18" max. Two other possibilities, it could just die once it gets too big or perhaps 8" is the size at which most hobbiests trade it away.